A fine Ancient Iranian Greyware Jar, ca early 1st millennium BC

this delicate thin-walled vessel is of rounded shape with flat bottom, wide flaring mouth and flat rim with two small perforations for suspension.  The dark buff body with finely burnished surface features tiny compressed dots alternating with chevrons divided by a vertical line. These chevrons and dots are set between incised lines that define the band.  

While punctate and relief ornaments are fairly common on northern Iranian ceramics of the first millennium BC, fine incised patterns, such are this example, are less so.

Condition:   Small crack to body professional restored, minor losses to the burnished surface, particularly on the inside of the rim, minor chipping and marking to the body that does not detract.  

Dimensions:   Height:  7 cm (2 3/4 inches)  Width:  8.3 cm   (3 1/4 inches)

Provenance:  Private Collection of a Foreign service diplomat, acquired in Tehran in 1965.